I waited a little while before posting as I didn't want this to become a pissing match about feeding this or that. I will say that 95% of my animals are fed an all rodent diet, and thrive with this diet. As for the albino red sided being young and having a "baby face", the anery red sided I posted is the same age, and the albino sirtalis is a 2011 animal. I breed animals that are of size and want to breed. If they don't breed, I just figure the female is not ready.

The female that died was thin and was having runny stool. She was taken to the vet and a fecal exam was done, we treated her for parasites, but unfortunately she died. In my experience with all snakes, meds can some times work wonders, while other specimens seem to have reactions and die from meds. You have to remember all snakes have parasites in thier bodies, so if we kill off all the natural flora, there can be consequenses, but if a snake is not putting on weight, and having nasty bowel movements, then meds have to be tried.

I speak to many breeders in the US and I would say all feed atleast some rodents, if not all rodents, to their snakes as a staple of their diet. They have good success in breeding, and I will continue a rodent diet until I find it does not work. I used to try and be more scientific with my animals, mostly boids, and keep weight records and all that. That is fine if you enjoy watching the numbers. I have since decided its not for me, and I just watch my animals closely and let them tell me what to do, when to feed, when to breed, when to put in and take out of brumation, ect.

I will, of course, keep the forum updated on how all of the females do, might even update my webpage . This is my favorite time of year, I enjoy seeing the gravid females, and really enjoy seeing the baby pics. So I will contribute when I can, as I hope others enjoy seeing the pics as well.

Sorry for the long post, and for getting off topic a few times...